HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-17-2015 PH1 Soll 1Subject: FW: Proposed Monterey hotel
Attachments: Dear Council Members.docx
COUNCIL MEETING:__ -_�� FEB 17 2015
ITEM NO.:_ f
From: Angela Soll [mailto:slocat(a hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 5:53 PM
To: Marx, Jan; Mejia, Anthony; Christianson, Carlyn; Carpenter, Dan; Ashbaugh, John; Rivoire, Dan
Subject: Proposed Monterey hotel
Please find the attached letter.
Thank you for your service.
Best Regards,
Angela and Mark Soll
Dear Mayor Marx and Council Members Christianson, Ashbaugh, Rivoire, Carpenter,
We are writing to you regarding the proposed hotel development at 1845/65 Monterey Street.
This project has gone through several reviews and is now coming before you as both an appeal of the
ARC's decision to approve the project and an appeal of the Planning Commission's decision to reject it.
Since that time the developers and members of the community have had limited meetings and there has
been some movement, but as will be outlined, those concessions do not go far enough, and the project
as currently proposed still does not comply with the City's Design Guidelines and Ordinance 1130. The
proposed hotel is dramatically larger than surrounding structures and does not follow the Guidelines
which state that the primary goals of the City's design review process are "to maintain the community's
quality of life for residents; to maintain property values; and to preserve the City's natural beauty and
visual character." Also, "commercial projects should consider San Luis Obispo's small town scale and
they should demonstrate sensitivity to the design context of the surrounding area, and promote
neighborhood compatibility through proportional building scale and size."
Ordinance 1130 was created specifically to address projects such as this one, within the area
zoned as Tourist Commercial with a Special Consideration Overlay. It directs that "building openings
facing the creek shall be minimized, and that noise generating uses such as parking and active outdoor
recreation uses should be located on the interior of the site, using buildings as a buffer." Unfortunately
the current design still does not adequately buffer parking and will subject the neighborhood to an
unreasonable noise burden. Further, we do not believe the project to be "compatible with the riparian
habitat and adjacent residential uses, considering such variables as light and glare, privacy, noise and
traffic" and that it is certainly not "adequately buffered from the creek and adjacent residences in a
manner which mitigates potential offsite impacts." This building, sitting on top of a hill, will appear as a
virtual skyscraper from San Luis Drive. The developers have insisted that it is necessary for the hotel to
have over 100 rooms to turn an adequate profit. One should not accept this assertion as fact, however.
Unfortunately for them, the land they have purchased is just not big enough to accommodate a hotel of
this size, with adequate parking, unless they were to dig another layer of parking underneath, or
perhaps tear out the Pappy McGregor's building. As it stands, they are trying to cram a size 12 foot into
a size 6 slipper —it just won't work.
The process we have observed and engaged in during the review of this project before the
various City government entities has been interesting and, at times, even, enjoyable. In fact, Angela has
been inspired to become more involved and is considering pursuing that interest further, after this is all
over with. We have, however, been somewhat disturbed by the role of "staff' in this process. It seems
that they have adopted the role of advocates for the development, rather than providing objective
historical and factual information regarding the project, and seem inordinately eager to grant
exemptions to the rules and guidelines. I would encourage the Council to go to the primary materials,
review the City Design Guidelines and Ordinance 1130 and form their own opinions without the bias
inherent in Staff's report. We are confident that the Council will conclude that the hotel should be
significantly downsized and will require that noise generating activities be adequately buffered, so as to
preserve the neighbors' quality of life, and protect San Luis Obispo Creek.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Dr. Mark and Angela Soll
1739 San Luis Drive